Willard Library

Willard Library opened its doors in Evansville, Indiana, in 1885, funded by a bequest from local philanthropist Willard Carpenter and built in a heavy Victorian Gothic style that still gives the building its distinctive, slightly foreboding look. It's the oldest public library building still in use in the state.

The library's ghost story dates to the late 1930s, when a janitor reported seeing a shrouded, gray-clad figure moving through the basement stacks in the early morning hours. The "Grey Lady," as she came to be known, has been informally linked over the years to various women connected to the Carpenter family, though no version of the story has ever been confirmed.

Rather than downplay the legend, the library leaned into it, installing public "ghost cams" that streamed the basement and other reportedly active areas online for years. Staff and patrons still describe sudden cold drafts, books and furniture disturbed overnight, and, occasionally, a trace of old-fashioned perfume in rooms where no one has been.